Thursday, March 15, 2007

Alien Predators Are More Dangerous Than Native Predators

Introduced predators such as foxes and cats are twice as deadly as native predators to Australia's unique native animals, a new study has found.The new finding, published this week in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, is the first confirmation of what has been a long-held hypothesis among scientists. It also highlights the heavy continuing impact of these predators long after their introduction and that Australia's fauna has been among the hardest hit in the world.Experts believe that introduced "alien" predators are more dangerous than native predators because their prey, such as numbats and bettongs, are naïve to the hunting tactics of alien predators.LINK